What Would I Do?

Live Like You Can

By Janis McDonald

“What would I do if I weren’t afraid and couldn’t fail?” was the topic of my monthly women’s meeting. In preparation I spent quite a bit of time pondering just what I might be afraid of now, being 66 years old. My initial reaction was, “Nothing.” However, after digging deeper I found a few hidden activities that surprised and slightly scared me.

After publicly declaring that to the group, my list didn’t seem so daunting after all. For instance, would I take a month off, go nowhere, stay home to focus on writing and riding my horses in order to make a quantum leap in skill, knowledge, and productivity that comes with complete focus? As the discussion became more alive and honest, I found myself confident enough to share that I always wanted a tattoo on my forearm that said, “Every Day Is My Last Day” to remind me not to forget that my life is finite. During the hustle and bustle of every day, I can forget that my life is not endless. I deeply know the biggest gift I can give to myself, my family, and my life is to get real that death is going to happen to me. Yet, the tattoo seemed so wild and crazy until I found a beautiful 80-year-old woman who started getting tattoos at age 70 to remind herself of everything important in her life. So, will I?

As the meeting time passed, everyone became more open to share their deepest desires if fear did not exist and they no longer cared what others thought. As this kind of freedom in dreaming surfaced, our list grew—the sparkling idea of traveling without a plan, writing a memoir, being an artist, living without worry, jumping out of a plane, failing more, flirting, and flying a helicopter. We all agreed wholeheartedly that we would wear sleeveless clothes more often!

Seriously, isn’t it time to feel the fear and do it anyway? Some of us have lived longer than we thought we were going to live. For me, I feel it’s time to finally decide what’s important to do now. I would decide what I could live without and make a Not To Do List in order to prevent getting distracted with unimportant activities that will take up the time I have left.

Live Like You Can is the concept of deciding to drop energy-draining people, places, and things, to take action to get the body as healthy and strong as possible, to be honest about what is possible now, and to accept what is not. This exercise alone will free up huge amounts of mental and emotional energy in order to go after what is truly wanted now!

I encourage everyone to take some time to dream. Ask yourself what you would do if you weren’t afraid, couldn’t fail, and others’ opinions didn’t matter. Examine your life now, decide what you can change and what you need to accept. Then get going, appreciating and remembering that life is a temporary gift to open now without delay!